Letters to the editor for April 7, 2017

Friday

Apr 7, 2017 at 2:01 AM

Honest mistake

I made an honest mistake during the Alachua City Commission elections last year, for which I take full responsibility. I incorrectly formatted campaign reports and inadvertently accepted one cash donation in the amount of $100 and another in the amount of $70, which I corrected by returning the excess amounts.

A mechanism is in place allowing corrections to be made for honest errors on reports. I followed that procedure. The date issue about filing was a misunderstanding. I am human and humans make mistakes. Mea culpa!

I am proud of my service to the citizens of Alachua and have been elected for three successive terms. To my knowledge, my personal ethics have never come into question during my tenure as a city commissioner.

The citizens can vote me out if I run again in 2019 if they have lost confidence in my ability to serve because of making an honest mistake in filing campaign documents. This is the American way!

Robert Wilford

Alachua

Drawing the line

At the contentious town hall on March 4, I reminded Rep. Ted Yoho that he said we need to "draw the line" with presidential conduct. I wanted to know what it would take for him to draw the line with President Trump's behavior.

Yoho continues to represent Trump. He said that House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes, who is charged with investigating Russia's interference in the election and determining if Trump knowingly colluded with Russia against the American people, actually works for Trump. Yoho has defended Nunes’ behavior, which effectively shut down the House Intelligence Committee's investigation.

What it will take for Rep. Yoho to draw the line with Trump? When will he push for an independent investigation? When will he take our nation's security seriously?

Rep. Yoho will hold a town hall on April 10 from 7-9 p.m. at Lincoln Middle School, 1001 SE 12th St. in Gainesville.

Robert Gray

Gainesville

Out of context

Have you noticed people whose intent is to deceive make bold superficially believable statements, but never provide context legitimizing those statements?

Take the statement in a March 25 letter that fracking has never been proven to contaminate groundwater. Without context, the clear implication is this issue has been researched, tested and proven to not contaminate ground water, right? It seems confident and believable, so why not support fracking?

Fracking fluid hasn’t been compared to ground water after fracking to establish a contamination link because that’s illegal. The content identity of fracking fluid is protected by law as a proprietary component of the fracking process. No reference for cross contamination exists.

Out-of-context statements like the one if the letter equate to lying by omission, but are more pernicious and despicable because it is misleading and deceptive when presented as legitimate and is easily construed as legitimate. But of course, that was the intent, wasn’t it?

R.L. Gill

Gainesville

Common decency

In 1950s my mother said, "Eat all of your dinner — think about the starving people in Africa." The paper recently reported on “the world’s largest humanitarian crisis in 70 years" — 1 million on brink of dying by starvation by month's end, 16 million at risk within months.

Meanwhile, the U.S. slashes foreign aid to United Nations food programs, when it normally gives $2 billion. Funds from other countries are not being provided at necessary levels either, it seems! Where is our humanity, our common decency to care for the least fortunate among us? Lost to fear, anxiety, greed and comfort, it seems!

If all military budgets were cut by only 5 percent — heck, 2 percent — that would free up billions and billions for individuals and societies in need of outside help.

Oebm Bendrah

Gainesville

Unsophisticated comment

It was certainly reassuring to read comments by Nikki Haley, our U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, in the April 3 edition of The Sun. Her statement that she "has not once" been told by Trump to stop "beating up on Russia," makes me wonder: Is she 12 years old or is it the case that her diplomatic sophistication is that of a 12 year old? "Beating up on Russia" is she? How quaint!